The Kingdom of Norway (Kongeriket Norge), a country in Scandinavia, is frequently
associated to the Vikings and it was a Viking king, Harald Fairhair, who unified
the Norwegian nation in one reign, around the middle of the 9th century and the
10th century. The Vikings helped form Norway approximately one century later.
The Viking Era was an important period for the formation of the Norwegian
culture and the Norse mythology.

Christian missionaries traveled in Viking lands as early as
825 AD, when Saint Anskar visited trading centers in Sweden and Denmark.
Conversions from paganism to Christianity were infrequent, however, until the
end of the 900s.

In 995 Olaf I, a great-grandson of Harald I, became king of
Norway. Before his accession Olaf had lived in
England, where he had converted to Christianity. He took the throne with the
firm purpose of forcing Christianity on Norway and he partially succeeded. Five
years after his accession he was killed in battle, and Norway was divided for a
short time. Norway was reunited by Olaf II, who made himself king of Norway in
1015. He continued the religious work of his predecessor, using force against
those who refused a Christian baptism.

By about 1025, Olaf II had become more powerful than any
preceding Norwegian king. He aroused the anger of powerful nobles, who, together
with Canute II, king of England and Denmark, drove Olaf into exile in Russia in
1028. Two years later Olaf returned to Norway and was killed in the Battle of
Stiklestad. Although a Viking king, he was seen as a martyr for the church. He
was canonized as Norway’s patron saint, following reports of miracles associated
with him.

In 1397, the kingdoms of Norway,
Denmark, and
Sweden were made a single
administrative unit. Sweden and Denmark were larger and wealthier than Norway,
which had lost much of its population and many of its farms in the mid-14th
century during an outbreak of bubonic plague. In 1523 Sweden dropped out of the
union, and Norway was increasingly treated as an appendage of the Danish crown.

After the defeat of Napoleon, in 1814, Denmark was compelled
to sign the Treaty of Kiel, ceding Norway to the king of Sweden. The Norwegians,
however, disavowed the treaty. They declared themselves an independent kingdom,
drew up a liberal constitution, and offered the throne to the Danish crown
prince Christian Frederick. The Norwegian move was opposed by the European
powers, and the head of an army, Marshal Jean Bernadotte, persuaded Norway to
accept the Treaty of Kiel. In return for its cooperation, Norway was allowed to
retain the newly promulgated constitution. By the Act of Union of 1815, Norway
was given its own army, navy, customs, and parliament and was permitted full
liberty and autonomy within its own boundaries.

Nearly half of the population of Norway live in the far south,
in the region around Oslo, the capital. About 3/5 of Norway is mountainous and
off its much-indented coastline lie, carved by deep glacial fjords, some fifty
thousand islands. In central Norway the low, flat valleys surrounding the city
of Trondheim are among the country’s most important agricultural regions. At the
center of this region is the broad Trondheimsfjord, a body of water sheltered
from the sea by peninsulas and islands.

The larger rivers of Norway are found in the east, where the
country’s longest river, the Glåma, has a course of 610 km. With its
tributaries, the Glåma drains about 1/8 of Norway’s area. In the west rivers are
generally short and swift, with many rapids and falls. The longest river in
northern Norway is the Tana. Flowing north into the Barents Sea, it forms part
of the frontier with Finland, and it is renowned as the country’s most important
salmon-fishing river. Norway has tens of thousands of glacial lakes. The largest
is Lake Mjøsa in the southeast, with an area of 390 km².